Solitary Bee (Colletes daviesanus)

Photographed on the Tuesday 26 July 2016.
This a solitary bee (Colletes daviesanus) and belongs to the Class Insecta, Order Hymenoptera, Suborder Apocrita, Family Colletidae and Genus Colletes and perhaps the smallest species of Colletes in the UK.
The Colletes are known as Plasterer Bees or Polyester Bees due to the fact that they line the walls of the nest and covering lid with a cellophane-like secretion from an abdominal gland. They b build their nests in soft materials that they can excavate with their strong jaws such as vertical sand banks, sandstone cliffs and any material soft enough such as soft masonry, where the can cause structural problems. Plasterer bees are solitary bees but will build in dense aggregations and are often termed ground-nesting bees. This probably the only Colletes to be found in gardens regularly. There are about 700+ species worldwide of which about 500 have been described. Approximately 60 species in Europe of which nine are known to occur in the UK
Bees as discussed belong to the Order Hymenoptera, of which there are about 150 000 species mostly dominated by wasps. Bees initially fall within the suborder Apocrita, which is subdivided again and bees fall into the division of Apocrita called Aculeata and part of the superfamily Apoidea where the form a monophyletic lineage belonging to the clade Anthophila. Some bees are social but most are solitary. About 20 000 species of bee have been described to date 9though probably a small estimate of the total number in existence). We have about 270 species of bee in Britain and Ireland of which bumblebees only occupy a small proportion.
More information can be found here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15935
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/life-sciences/insects/research/hymenoptera-research/bee-diversity/colletes/index.html
http://www.gardensafari.net/en_picpages/colletes_daviesanus.htm
https://data.nbn.org.uk/Taxa/NBNSYS0000009598
http://www.bwars.com/bee/colletidae/colletes-daviesan

AculeataAlnwickAngiospermAngiospermaeAnimaliaAnimalsAnthophytaApocritaApoideaArtArt photographyArthropodArthtorpodaArtistic Macro PhotographyArtistic PhotographyAsteraceaeBeeBotanyBritainBritishBritish IslesClose UpColletesColletes daviesanusColletidaeColletinaeColour ImageColour PictureColour photographCompositaeDaisy FamilyDaisyLike CompositesDicotsDicotyledonsDigital ImageDigital PhotographDigital PhotographyDigital PictureEnglandEntomologyEudicotsEuropeFaunaFine ArtFine Art ImageFine Art Macro PhotographyFine Art Nature ImageFine Art Nature PhotographFine Art Nature PhotographyFine Art Nature PictureFine Art PhotographFine Art PhotographyFine Art PictureFlowering PlantsGemeine SeidenbieneGreat BritainHexapodHexapodaHymenopteraImageInsectaInsectsInvertebrateKLittle CreaturesMacroMacro PhotographyMagnolicaeMagnoliohytaMagnoliopsidaMegafaunaMesofaunaMichaelmas daisyNBLNature PhotographyNorthumberlandPhotographPicturePlantsPlasterer BeesSmall WorldSpermatophytaTormaiskosmehilainenUUKUnited KingdomVegetationWildlifeWildlife Photographycreaturesfloragreenphotographyshade of greenshade of yellowsolitary beeyellowzoologyflying insect

From Wildlife: Bees